"They tried to do a rescue and discovered the she was dead. They discovered what appears to be a suspicious fire. The state fire marshal is here to confirm that," said Jane Watrel with the Orange County Sheriff's Office.

No one else was in the house at the time of the fire.

The woman was married for 65 years, and her husband is in a local nursing home, Watrel said.

WESH 2 NEWS FIRST AT 4:00 STARTS NOW. WESH 2 NEWS LEARNED AN ELDERLY WOMAN FOUND IN A BURNED OUT HOME WAS MURDERED. I'M JIM PAYNE. I'M MARTHA SUGALSKI. THE WOMAN DIED OF BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA AFTER THE HOME WAS TORCHED. IT WAS IN THE CONWAY AREA EARLY THIS MORNING. MICHELLE MEREDITH HAS THE LATEST. THE VICTIM'S DAUGHTER COLLAPSED ON THE SIDEWALK NEAR HER MOTHER'S HOME TRYING TO TAKE IT IN AND TRYING TO COMPREHEND WHO WOULD KILL HER MOTHER AND SET THE HOUSE ON FIRE. THIS IS A TRAGIC DEATH FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD. THIS WILL SHOCK THE NEIGHBORHOOD. AS PEOPLE ON TURNBULL DRIVE ARE IN SHOCK THE VICTIM WAS IN HER LATE 80s AND A NEIGHBOR SAW SMOKE AND CALLED 911. THE FIRE MARSHALL'S OFFICE DETERMINED THE FIRE WAS SUSPICIOUS ALMOST AS QUICKLY, INVESTIGATORS DETERMINED HER DEATH WAS SUSPICIOUS, TOO. AT THIS POINT THEY SAY SHE DIED FROM BLUNT FORCE TRAUMA. WHO COULD DO THAT TO AN 80-YEAR-OLD? WHO COULD DO THAT TO SOMEBODY? THEY DO NOT DESERVE THIS. NEIGHBORS TELL US THE WOMAN NEEDED A WALKER TO GET AROUND BUT WAS SPUNKY. HER HUSBAND OF 65 YEARS LIVES IN A NURSING HOME. NOW THEIR HOUSE IN ESSENCE IS A MURDER SCENE COMPLETE WITH CRIME SCENE TECHS, HOMICIDE INVESTIGATORS AND INVESTIGATORS DIGGING FOR CLUES ALL DAY. VERY NICE LADY. AND THEN THERE'S MARIA DIAZ, THE VICTIM'S PHYSICAL THERAPYIST WHO STOPPED BY FOR A SCHEDULED APPOINTMENT. SHE HAD SURGERY. I WAS SEEING HER FOR THAT.